Surjit (32), was stabbed in the heart in November 1998 after a confrontation with a group of men in Garrion Street, Overtown. He was killed just yards from the home he shared with his girlfriend, Liz Bryce.

Three men were charged with the murder – Coulter, his nephew Andrew Coulter and David Montgomery.

Ronnie Coulter was tried alone and acquitted after blaming Montgomery and his nephew for the killing.

Then, at a separate trial in 2000, Andrew Coulter and Montgomery were cleared – after blaming the crime on him.

Ex-girlfriend Tierney told the jury how Ronnie Coulter gave her clothes to wash after the murder. Tierney said he also handed her a box of kitchen knives – with one blade missing – and told her to get rid of it.

The Chhokar case has returned to the spotlight after the conviction of two men for the racist murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence in London in 1993. The previous ‘double jeopardy’ rules which protected an acquited person from being put on trial for a second time meant the claims of Chisholm and Tierney were of no threat to Coulter.

But last year’s Double Jeopardy (Scotland) Act has potentially changed the situation.

Ronnie Coulter gave evidence at the trial of his nephew and Montgomery, and was branded “a liar and a remorseless murderer” by Andrew Coulter’s counsel Paul McBride QC.

The failure to bring anyone to justice for the killing of Surjit has hung over the Crown and the police for years. Prosecutors were condemned for two trials, which allowed the suspects to blame one another. An independent report in 2001 suggested there was “institutional racism” in how police and prosecutors handled the case and dealt with Surjit’s family.

The report by solicitor Raj Jandoo claimed police failed to consider race as a possible factor in the murder. He said police and prosecutors were ignorant of Sikh funeral customs. And he criticised the Crown Office for failing to provide a translator for Surjit’s father Darshan, who speaks little English.

Darshan (73), is now fighting cancer. And at a press conference last week, his daughter said it was his “last wish” to finally see justice for Surjit. Manjit Sangha (50), told reporters: “All that we have ever asked for is justice.”